If you have already suffered a problem with your computer on occasion , it is very possible that you have discovered the benefits (and advantages) of having a device that is useful when starting the operating system externally, without depend directly on the internal hard drive itself.
Although it is true that, nowadays, having an optimal boot disk (such as a CD or a DVD) could be considered a thing of the past, mainly due to the existence of a wide variety of drives smaller USB flash drives that greatly facilitate the process, there are still those who prefer to continue using them.
In any case, it is true that we can find a series of advantages with respect to the use of a bootable USB over a CD. To begin with, a USB flash drive is characterized by being reusable , so that it is not necessary to buy a new blank CD when something has changed in the operating system, and we want to carry out a new bootable copy.
Portability is also characterized by being another advantage to add. And, as you surely know, flash drives are much more comfortable to carry, so that they offer us the possibility of carrying our entire operating system in our pocket.
But USB memories could have a basic problem on optical disk drives, such as a CD: we must attend to the BIOS, motherboard and flash drive model before starting the system from the memory itself, since, in some cases , it could end up not being compatible.
However, if you already have a bootable CD or USB, and you need to use it, it is clear that the next step is to find out how we can start the computer from both options. We explain how you can do it easily.
How to boot your computer from a bootable CD
To do this, we must change the computer’s boot options , an option that we will find in the BIOS (Basic input and output system). To do this, we must insert the boot CD in the unit , and restart the computer .
Then, we have to press the associated key to access the BIOS setup menu . Typically this is F12 or Delete ; although this particular key will depend on the manufacturer.
Now we must scroll through the different BIOS configuration menus, until we find an option similar to Advanced BIOS Features (for example, we could also find it under the name Advanced Boot Features , Boot Features or Boot Priority Order ).
We must modify the First Boot Device option with the intention of choosing the CD as the first boot drive, instead of the internal hard drive (which is usually the norm). To do this, we choose the CD-ROM Drive option first, instead of Hard Drive .
We go out and save the changes . This option is usually carried out automatically once we press the F10 key, and confirming the operation with Enter or Y (Yes).
How to boot your computer from a bootable USB
The process to follow is practically the same as we have followed to configure the system boot from a boot CD, with the difference that instead of a CD-ROM we must choose the Removable Devices option . Of course, let’s go by parts.
With the computer turned off, we insert the USB pendrive that serves as a startup tool. We turn on the computer, and immediately press the F2, F12 or Delete key (Del), to access the BIOS configuration system.
Once this is done, we choose the option Advanced BIOS Features or similar, and we identify the USB drive where the boot system is located. The name of the device in question may appear.
We select it as the first option to start the system, and press F10 to save the changes automatically.
Clever! Our computer will start automatically from the CD or USB depending on the option we have chosen, and we can proceed to reinstall the operating system if necessary.
